Jus-Rol Professional

Dan’s Blue Cow Pie Proves a Recipe for Success

It’s the time of year when pub chefs across the country are getting ready to serve up their finest pie recipes – as the search for British Pie Week's Pub Pie Champion continues with Jus-Rol Professional™ in partnership with the Morning Advertiser. We caught up with last year's People's Choice winner to discover how his mouth-watering Blue Cow Pie has proved a winner with customers – and even attracted the attention of his local rugby team!

“It just wouldn’t be traditional pub grub without pies on the menu,” says Head Chef Dan Tibbins, sitting in his kitchen at The Fountain Inn, an old coaching house set in the beautiful landscape of West Cornwall. “Pies are definitely one of the strongest sellers on the menu. Our customers really value that we only serve home-made pies using fresh and locally bought ingredients. In addition, the pies sell well because they are big, traditional and filling, and are good value for money.”

The unique Blue Cow Pie, which comes complete with make-believe cow horns made out of pastry, earned Dan the People's Choice award in last year's competition, when happy regulars went to www.britishpieweek.co.uk to vote for his unusual and delicious pie.
So what was it that inspired his innovative culinary creation? “As a pub, we love meat and cheese, which inspired the filling - we use a blue cheese. The horns were inspired by the cow pies from the children’s comic The Dandy and so Dan’s Blue Cow Pie emerged!”

Dan says his involvement in last year's British Pie Week's Pub Pie competition has proved a real business bonus. “It generated lots of recognition: We get people saying 'we saw you on television' and there were also stories in the local press. The regional ITV news even filmed us with the local rugby team, the Cornish Pirates, who attempted to train using my pie! The competition has boosted the number of customers we get. I will definitely be entering this year’s competition but it’s too early to really say anything about what I will be cooking!”

Dan, head chef at the Newbridge Pub, admits he could buy the pies in pre-prepared “but then they wouldn’t be as good and the customers wouldn’t come in to eat them. So in the long run, it works out better to use good ingredients and make the pies yourself.” A key ingredient is perfect pastry because “if it isn’t made correctly, it can go all saggy.” That is why he loves Jus-Rol pastry because it delivers “consistency under time restraints and makes preparation easy. I use the Jus-Rol pastry ovals, pastry sheets and pastry blocks. It’s just faster, easier – they are there and ready to go. We always have three pies on the menu although we do rotate the style. My customers always come back so pies must be popular.”

The pub caters for up to 70 lunch and dinner customers a day during the summer months but it varies according to the season. The Fountain specializes in traditional meat and fish dishes with a menu that includes Cajun chicken, steak and seafood chowder. “This time of year we have a few game dishes on the menu such as pan-fried pigeon. We get most of our ingredients from local suppliers. In fact, all our vegetables come from Cornwall and the regionality helps promote the menu.” “Every Friday we have a pie night. It’s a pie meal with either mash or chips and peas. We did this before the competition to get support and it helped us to get lots of votes!” Dan, who has been at The Fountain for two years and in the pub trade for seven, says the growing food business is essential to the pub which has a 60:40 dry/wet mix. He admits bluntly: “If we didn’t do food, there wouldn’t be a pub here!” With that, he heads off to continue working on another mouth-watering pie recipe for this year’s competition!

British Pie Week’s Pub Pie Champion 2011 – Last Call for entries!
The hunt for the British Pie Week Pub Pie Champion is back and bigger than ever! In association with Jus-Rol Professional, pub chefs are invited to submit their best pub pie recipes for a chance to be crowned 2011’s British Pie Week Pub Pie Champion.

The winner will receive…
A £500 cash prize
A personalised chef’s jacket
Publicity for their pub in the trade and national press
The coveted British Pie Week trophy which will be presented to the winner at the Morning Advertiser’s prestigious Great British Pub Food Awards

Be sure to get your regulars voting for your pie in the People’s Choice Award too. Pubs can request a free point of sale kit, containing eye catching posters and tent cards, through the website.

For more information on British Pie Week visit www.britishpieweek.co.uk

Press Office Contact Details:

Gemma Buckley-Roberts / Jellybean Creative Solutions, 4 Bridge Street, Leatherhead KT22 8BZ
Tel: 01372 227 956 / Fax: 01372 383359 / email: gemma@jellybeancreative.co.uk